Cromwell-Portland at Ansonia
Class S semifinal.
Where: Jarvis Stadium, Ansonia.
Records: No. 6 Cromwell-Portland, 10-1; No. 2 Ansonia, 11-0.
Quarterfinals: Cromwell-Portland def. No. 3 Bloomfield, 28-14; Ansonia def. Stafford-East Windsor-Somers, 48-0.
Key duos: Cromwell-Portland — Kristian Sapp (Sr., RB-DB), Ethan Roy (Sr., OL-DL). Ansonia — Markell Dobbs (Jr., RB-DB), Malcolm Martin (Sr., FB-LB).
Kyle Brennan’s analysis
Worth noting
- Cromwell is one of the rare programs to have a winning record (2-1) against Ansonia. The Panthers defeated the Chargers, 14-12, to win the 2008 Class S title and also earned a 27-19 victory in the 2004 Class S semifinals. Ansonia’s only win was a 55-0 victory in the 2003 Class S final.
- Cromwell and Portland joined together as a co-op program before the 2015 season.
- Ansonia is making its 11th consecutive appearance in the state playoffs. The Chargers have qualified in each of Tom Brockett’s 11 seasons as head coach. They’ve made six straight state finals, going 3-3 in those games.
- Ansonia has not lost a playoff game at home since the 2000 Class S semifinals, a 7-6 loss to Griswold.
- Dobbs has run for 1,893 yards (fourth in the state) and 26 touchdowns (tied for fourth) in nine games. He’s run for at least 130 yards in each game. He didn’t play in a 68-14 rout of Holy Cross.
- Sapp is the state’s third-leading rusher with 2,231 yards and 29 touchdowns.
- Ansonia owns a state-best 19 state titles. Cromwell is looking for fifth championship berth and second title.
